Ježetze is the literary quarter of Poznan or at least part of it is – literary and artistic, with the art nouveau facades on many older buildings. Some of the modern ones too, are designed with deliberation, to blend in with the older architecture. Streets are named after famous writers such as Juliusz (most important says J) Słowacki and the best known Polish poet, Adam Mickiewicz. It seems appropriate that the Polish poet, translator and stateswoman Kazimiera Iłłakowiczowna (1888 - 1983) lived very near here, in Gajowa which, J says, means – leading to a leafy forest.
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| The house where Kazimiera lived |
Perhaps it did once, but now it’s the old tram depot that’s opposite her building. I first saw it ten years ago and it is still there, still unused, though there are no doubt plans to convert it into something else.
Parallel to Słowackiego is ulica Bukowskiego, named after Charles Bukowski. The small bookshop is called Bookowski so I have to have a look inside.
Of course not all the books we sell are like Bukowski’s says Marcin, the manager, his were experimental but nowadays many people write like this.
These are the first lines of a poem by Bukowski
You can read the rest of the poem here
Ah yes, the avant-garde. Who are now the forerunners, slipping past boundaries as if they didn’t exist? Maybe the defenders of an ancient forest J tells me about, that is threatened with being cut down. They declared it a National Park, the people defending it did that, not the local authorities. They have made tree houses and camp there, and will not allow it to be destroyed.
And in literature I wonder? I tell Marcin I’ve read Olga Tocarczuk’s Flights which I enjoyed, but her latest The Books of Jacob, that’s too big, too long for me. He says it is very full of detailed history and he did not enjoy that. But her Flights, that I would consider avant-garde because it slips between the labels and the definitions.
Marcin says there is a shortage of paper now in Europe, and they have to import from China. Because of this publishers have had to cut back on the number of books they can bring out. People still buy books though, even if you don’t make money from it he says, you do it from love. As manager he can order what he likes, the choices of what books to stock, it’s up to him, he loves books, and people still read books here, that is what is important. The avant-garde, the unusual, the disjointed, the brilliant – they will appeal to some – but not to others. Like The Books of Jacob these beyond-brilliant works will not be read by many. But we will praise their appearance in the public arena, praise their existence.
Marcin lives in Wilda, outside the city centre but it still has some of the old buildings and old character & atmosphere, it’s like Ježetze was about 20 years ago. I tell J about this and she says, yes, it’s an interesting area too, we can go there if you’d like to see it? Yes I say, I would.
So that is our next adventure, not far away in space, just a short tram ride. But unexpectedly, a smooth chute into another time. I thought these solid and attractive buildings would be supportive as a boat in water but instead all those open doors and passages and stairwells lead straight into the past. But who does this past belong to?
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